School Trips Cancelled
I don't know whether the school was taken to court or the trips went ahead in the end.
Mother defends school trip legal action threat
THE mother of a terminally ill Inverness schoolgirl has defended her decision to threaten legal action over a school trip.Donna Williamson, of Aultnaskiach Avenue, spoke out yesterday after news of the cancellation of the annual trip sparked anger among a small group of parents.
The parents wrote to local councillors, Inverness MP Danny Alexander and Highland Council education officials about concerns that their children would be missing out.
The council said it had "no option" but to call off two excursions - one to an outdoor centre and the other to Glasgow, visiting museums and art galleries - due to the complexities of legislation governing disability discrimination.
But Mrs Williamson explained her 11-year-old daughter, who has a rare form of muscular dystrophy, is "seriously ill" and argued that no school trips should go ahead unless every pupil could take part.
The mother is upset and frustrated that she has found herself at the centre of a row with the parents whose children also attend Crown Primary School.
She believes some parents may have over-reacted because they might not be aware of all the facts.
She told The Inverness Courier the issue, which surfaced last Wednesday, had ruined the family's Christmas and some comments made on the newspaper's website by readers have caused further distress.
Mrs Williamson stressed: "My view is that the school trip was never cancelled - only the venue or destination was changed. The details of the trip are still being worked on and I have e-mails to that effect."
Matters came to a head when education officials said they were forced to cancel a school trip to Craggan Outdoor Centre, near Aviemore, for 70 or so primary seven pupils after Mrs Williamson threatened to take legal action.
She accused the authority of breaching disability discrimination laws because her daughter, who has a severe physical disability, would not have been able to take part in activities like climbing, kayaking and rafting.
She complained to the authority when it emerged the school was continuing to push ahead with the five-day outward bound trip. This was despite Mrs Williamson warning earlier that her daughter would be excluded from the activities. It is understood two other pupils in the class are also disabled.
"I told the school's support for learning teacher from the outset that it was not going to be suitable for our child, but they insisted on going ahead," claimed Mrs Williamson.
"They were still offering the trip to Craggan," she added "So all the children would have gone on that trip and my daughter would still have been excluded."
Mrs Williamson believes they are now planning to organise the trip to Craggan privately.
"It is disgusting in this day in age that they are not considering the needs of another child," she said, explaining that she wants her daughter to live a full and inclusive life regardless of her illness.
She also accused the school of jumping the gun and not disseminating information properly.
Last week a council spokeswoman said efforts would be made in the new year to provide an appropriate excursion for all children.
Source: Invrness Courier
What do you think should happen? Do you understand the mother's concerns? Is it a case of discrimination? Have you heard of any similar cases here in Spain?
Comments
I agree. I sympathise with the mother in she this case. Having a child with a disability must be make her more protective of that child. But she should not deny other children their chances to do what they normally do.
What happens when they have PE (gym) class? Or when the children are in the playground? Can't they play football when her child is around?
I have finished one exercise on the blog. Today I´ve been trying The third conditional. I think that my score isn´t good but I will rewiew the grammar tomorrow to solve my problems with it.
If I have got doubts, I will ask you about them on monday.
Bye
Conditionals can be tricky. But the more you practise, the better you will get.
It´s sound excessive legal action over school trip, but it could be the only way the people are aware of difficulties of a person with a disability, and the things start to be more inclusive.
On the other hand, in this days in age, it´s difficult keep in mind all the point of views, and all the aspect when you have to make and decision, because each person have a different point of view, and nobody will be happy with everything. Despite of all, I think the main item is to have easy and open communication between any organization and the people.
I agree with your comments on this case. It is important that children with special needs should not feel left out. However, this mother can't expect all the children in the same year as her daughter to miss out on activities that are considered a normal part of childhood.
On the one hand, I can understand the point of view of Donna Williamson. I think the problem is that there are no trips her daughter can go on. As the article said, there were just two trips and her daughter couldn't join either of them.
It sounds excessive legal action over school trip, but it could be the only way to make people aware of difficulties a person with a disability faces. Only then will things start to be more inclusive.
On the other hand, *in this day and age, it´s difficult to keep / bear in mind all the points of view, and all the aspects when you have to make a decision. Each person has a different point of view, and nobody will be happy with everything. Despite all this, I think the main item is to have easy and open communication between an organisation and the people.
*I have a feeling that this was a mistake in the original article - the correct expression is in this day and age. Keep on using new vocabulary take from the article in your comments.
I notice mistakes in my first reply:
I sympathise with the mother in this case. Having a child with a disability must make her more protective of that child but she should not deny other children their chances to do what they normally do.